Jan. 29, 2014

President Barack Obama / File / The Tennessean

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Obama on guns

Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us each day. I have seen the courage of parents, students, pastors and police officers all over this country who say, “We are not afraid,” and I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters and our shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook. — President Barack Obama, State of the Union address

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When President Barack Obama takes the stage at McGavock High School this afternoon, he’s expected to speak mostly about job creation and education.

But there is one other topic he may address: guns.

The shooting of 15-year-old Kevin Barbee, a McGavock sophomore, just two days before Obama’s arrival in Nashville raises the prospect that gun violence will figure into the president’s speech. Obama also arrives a day after state officials announced that Italian gun-maker Beretta would build a new plant in the Nashville area.

Beretta executives cited Tennessee’s positive views on guns as a factor in the company’s decision to locate here.

Obama’s advocacy for tougher gun regulation has been a major factor behind his unpopularity in the state. A statewide poll released Tuesday by Middle Tennessee State University put his approval rate at 30 percent.

But Obama has a history of speaking out for new gun laws in the wake of tragedy. Some advocates for gun control hope he will do so again in Nashville.

“We all have a responsibility to cut down on all forms of violence,” said the Rev. Joseph Breen, senior pastor at St. Edward Catholic Church in Nashville. “If the president would have the time when he’s here to speak on that subject, that would be good.”

Obama took on gun control head-on a year ago, when he announced in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Conn., that he had signed executive orders and asked Congress to pass new laws to combat gun violence.

His profile on the issue has diminished since his legislative initiatives were defeated last spring, but he still worked the topic into his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Linda McFadyen-Ketchum, head of the state chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said she was disappointed Obama did not say more. She hopes he will address gun violence more directly today.

Kevin Barbee was killed in a Hermitage apartment complex Tuesday night. Witnesses say another student, Kaemon Robinson, 17, was playing with a pistol when it fired, hitting Barbee in the face. Robinson has been charged with criminal homicide.

The White House said in a telephone briefing for reporters Wednesday that the Obama administration had been in touch with McGavock officials earlier in the day. A senior administration official said he didn’t know if the president would address the shooting during his school visit or try to meet with Barbee’s family.

Brent Leatherwood, executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party, expects the topic to be brought up based on Obama’s remarks in the State of the Union.

“He’s more interested in campaigning than throwing out real solutions,” Leatherwood said. “The McGavock stuff might come up in that context.”

Although job creation also is expected to feature prominently in Obama’s speech, the president is less likely to discuss Beretta’s announcement that it plans to open a plant in Gallatin that would employ 300. Executives said Tennessee’s liberal gun laws — especially in comparison with those in Maryland, where it now operates — were the first thing they weighed in deciding where to place their new factory.

Regardless of what Obama says, he’s unlikely to lose support from gun control advocates. Without commenting directly on his speech in Nashville, John Feinblatt, chairman of the national gun control advocacy group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, gave him a vote of confidence.

“I think the actions he’s taken are the most important thing,” he said.

Adam Tamburin, Getahn Ward and Michael Cass contributed to this report. Reach Chas Sisk at 615-259-8283 and on Twitter @chassisk.